In the food handling industry, conveyor belts are utilized in a wide variety of applications. Such applications include the transport of breads, cookies, crackers, chips, and other type snacks through baking ovens to complete the baking process. Other food applications include the transport of meats, poultry, fruits, and vegetables through various treatment stations for cleaning selection and packaging of such foods. The conveyor belts utilized in food applications primarily includes synthetic/plastic conveyor belts. These belts accumulate build-up of food particles during usage which require cleaning and sanitization after each processing step. Also, such conveyor systems require cleaning to prevent ingredient contamination from one type of food product to another type of baked product.
Several methods and processes have been utilized to attempt to provide clean conveyor belts. One method utilizes the manual spraying of water to clean and remove debris from the conveyor. However, such a method is labor intensive, provides uneven cleaned conveyor surfaces and requires excessive amounts of water. Accordingly, such a cleaning process is of limited value in cleaning food processing conveyor belts.
Other methods of cleaning food conveyor belts utilize a washing method which includes rotating brushes and/or scraper members to engage the conveyor belt, with subsequent washing and/or vacuuming to facilitate removal and cleaning of the conveyor belt. Again, such cleaning methods are labor and time intensive and require excessive amounts of water and cleaning chemicals to accomplish the desired cleaning of the conveyor belt.
Still another cleaning method utilizes a customized housing assembly designed to engage a specific width of conveyor belt to clean the same. Such systems include dry steam vapor blasts that loosen the debris from the belt. However, such a method requires the use of a powerful vacuum to remove the debris and dry the conveyor belt before further usage of the belt. Therefore, such a method is labor and time intensive, and because each customized housing assembly is only designed to clean a specific width conveyor belt, a plurality of expensive assemblies are required in food processing facilities that include multiple width conveyor belts; thus, such a method is expensive and cost ineffective.